March 27, 2012 (Craftsbury, Vermont) – Canadian sprint queen, Chandra Crawford, fresh off her 30km classic victory at the Canadian XC Ski Championships at Mont Ste-Ann this past weekend, blew away the the women’s field in the 1.3km classic sprint qualification run this morning at the US Super Tour Finals.

Crawford completed the course in 3:24.9, a whopping 6.81 seconds over her closest rival, Sadie Bjornsen (APU/USST). Kikkan Randal (APU/USST), now back in the USA after a whirlwind of invitational races following the WCup finals in Falun, Sweden, where she finally received her historic Sprint Cup globe, took third, at 10.75 seconds behind Crawford.

In the men’s event, Sylvan Ellefson (SSCV/Team HomeGrown) topped the strong field with a time of 3:00.95. Simi Hamilton (SVEF/USST) was 2.6 seconds back, followed by Skylar Davis, who finished third at 3.5 seconds behind Ellefson (SMS/USST). The big news in the men’s race was top USST sprinter, Andy Newell, is on the sidelines due to illness.

Competition continues this afternoon with sprint heats.

Women’s live qualification results HERE.
Men’s live qualification results HERE.